Musician Andrew Cyr was burning the midnight oil Wednesday, when he received a cryptic e-mail from composer Avner Dorman.
“Congratulations,” read the message, which also included a link to an article in the L.A. Times.
Cyr clicked the link only to find that he and Dorman had been nominated for a Grammy Award.
“I was so thrilled,” Cyr said this afternoon.
In February, he will fly out to Los Angeles with his wife to attend the star-studded awards ceremony with the likes of Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand.
Cyr has served as music director and organist at Our Lady of Grace R.C. Church in Hoboken since 2003 and is also the founder and artistic director of the Metropolis Ensemble, a non-profit orchestra, where he also conducts, and consortium of young artists and composers based in New York City.
“As I started my career as a conductor, I was like how can I be of service to the music community? How can I create new audiences? How can I help the next generation of composers?” he said.
In the fall of 2007, one year into the organization’s existence, the Metropolis Ensemble recorded its first studio album with Grammy-winning producer David Frost. Released on the NAXOS American Classics label, the album features Cyr conducting four of Dorman’s concertos. The fourth, a Mandolin Concerto with solo mandolin player Avi Avital, won the hearts of the National Academy of the Arts and Sciences.
The group is up for the category of Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra with four other musical groups including the Nashville Symphony and the Russian Philharmonic.
“I think it’s possible and I’m very hopeful,” he said. “I mean why not? Why not us? … For the academy to recognize a new voice in Avner and in us as an orchestra is just kind of amazing for us. We’re so, so excited just to be there.”
And what’s next for the nominee? Cyr will soon be leaving his post in Hoboken to devote himself full-time to the growth of the Metropolis Ensemble which he says its on its way to becoming a “growing institution.”